Grimsby Vs Crewe

[GTFCfish]

For the 2nd week running it's great to read the positive reaction on social media from the opposition supporters.

You must have been good to get that reaction from our fans on social media as usually when we lose it’s all about how shit we were with very little praise for the opposition but every bit I’ve seen today just said how good Crewe were and that we lost to a better team.

 

[les.gtfc]

Sometimes you have to hold your hands up and say you were beaten by the better team, yesterday was one of those times.

Crewe are an excellent team, best we've played so far this season. Awful penalty from Hanson, I think Crewe's keeper psyched him out before he took it by saying he knew he always hit them straight down the middle.

2nd goal was pretty inconsequential really as we were pushing for an equaliser and it was about 5 against 2 on the break.

Still confident we'll have a far better season than last time though.

 

[GTFCfish]

Sometimes you have to hold your hands up and say you were beaten by the better team, yesterday was one of those times.

Crewe are an excellent team, best we've played so far this season. Awful penalty from Hanson, I think Crewe's keeper psyched him out before he took it by saying he knew he always hit them straight down the middle.

2nd goal was pretty inconsequential really as we were pushing for an equaliser and it was about 5 against 2 on the break.

Still confident we'll have a far better season than last time though.

Yeah Hanson admitted that the Crewe keeper asked him, are you gonna hit it down the middle like usual, and that made him change his mind.

 

[lordofthepies]

I'm delighted with the result and it sounds like we played really well again. Hearing such nice words from someone as esteemed as Alan Buckley is lovely as well.

It does sound like Grimsby's tactics played in to our hands a little bit, but they're definitely a team on the up and they've got a good, young manager who is learning all the time. It's crucial they stick with him and get behind him.

 

[The Alex]

Lowery is a joy to watch, better feet than Nick Powell. Can’t see us holding onto him for too long with the way he’s going.

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

Excellent second half performance yesterday. Really enjoyed it. Should've had four goals but will take the two very well finished goals and the first half penalty save will be an even bigger confidence booster for Trigger too.

I'd say that second half is our second best 45 minutes of the season after last weeks vs Bradford. After many years of mediocrity, we've finally got back to our best and adopted a multi-dimensional approach which means we have a Plan A, a Plan B and a Plan C if we need them. If we really start taking these chances then we'll step it up another level too. As long as both our keepers develop and our defence remains steady then I've got a lot of confidence in this team to do well. Just hope the vultures don't swoop over us in January...

 

[Son of Cod]

I can't understand your tactics though, backing off and giving us loads of possession. Even our commentators were shocked by how much your lot stood off. How did Jolley think that was the best tactic?


And how is he a fan of the one dimensional stuff you play as well? It was so obvious, I'm impressed we snuffed it out so easily. I mean, Green and Ogbu caused some problems down the flanks and the midfield aren't terrible. Yet they were just bypassed over and over again. What a waste of talent if that's the way you'll play all season.

As has been said 2 or 3 times already in this thread, we haven't just been lumping it up to Hanson all season. I think that's the first match we've played like that since the first two games of the season. Sure, direct play is a big part of our play but we have been mixing it up really well in the previous 4 league matches. Yesterday was a particularly bad day at the office and easily our worst performance of the season. Whether or not that was under the instruction of Jolley or the players not being at the races or a combination of the two I'm not sure.

We tried to play neat passing football last season and we finished 17th. I think it's to Jolley's credit that he has looked at that and made us a bit more League 2. Crewe are somewhat of an anomaly at this level in that the philosophy of your club, manager and even fans has such a strong foundation and maybe even reliance on your youth setup. You've been incredibly patient the last few seasons and you're starting to really see the benefits of that. We've only just started bringing youngsters through again, so we don't have this kind of ingrained style of play that a group of players have been brought up playing together with for a number of years. I think your criticism of Jolley being one dimensional is a bit off the mark, he's a young manager finding his feet. He is gonna get things wrong, like he did yesterday.

The bypassing of the midfield is a fair comment though, and something that has been picked up. Hessenthaler, Whitehouse, Cook and Clifton are way better than simply not being terrible though. They should have been utilised better yesterday. They lack creativity (which is what Robson has been brought in for from Sunderland), but if they'd have been on the front foot and in the faces of your CMs then I think yesterday could have been a lot different. Again though, it's a starting XI playing a fairly new system, with 4 of the 6 forwards and CMs being new at the club so tweaks will need to be made along the way. It was an odd performance from us, but not taking anything away from Crewe as you were excellent in the second half. The likes of Lowery and Kirk will draw the plaudits, but I thought you defended really well in both halves.

I'm delighted with the result and it sounds like we played really well again. Hearing such nice words from someone as esteemed as Alan Buckley is lovely as well.


It does sound like Grimsby's tactics played in to our hands a little bit, but they're definitely a team on the up and they've got a good, young manager who is learning all the time. It's crucial they stick with him and get behind him.

Yep, that last point is massively important. Traditionally, patience isn't a virtue of ours as s a set of supporters but I think people are starting to come around to the idea of long term goals.

Onwards though, big test for us at Oldham next weekend (after a big cup game vs Macc on Tuesday). We were so streaky last season that it was refreshing that after the other defeat to FGR a few weeks back we didn't fall into a slump. Going up to Oldham and getting something will go a long way to burying that hoodoo. This team has got way more fight in it than season though, so I'm quietly confident we can get a positive result.

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

I'd say it'd be pretty harsh to call Grimsby a poor side based on yesterday. I thought first half they had spells in the game and were trying to make things work, even causing panic in our box a few times and winning a penalty in the process. Looked like they'd cause a few problems from set pieces too. But soon as we scored they did go one-dimensional and that played well and truly into our hands. But how many times has that happened to us when we were in transition? I've seen us been in games for ages only to fail to take chances and lose by the odd goal.

I know they had a poor second half but I did think Grimsby looked a decent side yesterday. Maybe a few of their lads (that Ogbu in particular) had off days but with a player of James Hanson's calibre leading your line in this division, you can expect to do well this season. I felt Grimsby were very similar to Walsall across the back and throughout the middle with the lone exception being that Grimsby's forward line will cause damage to teams this season as opposed to Walsall's which looked very tame against us the other week.

 

[Vanni]

 

[Scamperdale]

I agree with some of the posts above, Grimsby weren’t that bad yesterday. Even with our quality performance there was only a missed penalty dividing the teams (if you scratch the late goal due to Grimsby pushing forward to try and gain an equaliser)
I’m loving how Crewe are playing at the moment, it’s a joy to watch, however we still need to be more clinical in front of goal or we end up with results like that we suffered at Newport where we were by far the better team yet came away with nothing.

My lad played under MJ for a year whilst he was at Crewe academy. MJ is not from the normal coaching background but he has shown great determination to learn his trade and is very talented. It looks to me like he is doing a good job at Grimsby.

One gripe from yesterday was that yet again us away fans were forced to sit in the corner with vision of the goal obscured by pillars. Whilst the seats behind the goal were left empty. Away fans are the lifeblood of the lower leagues. We spend large amounts of time and money to support our teams and in doing so put money into the coffers of the clubs we visit why is it that some of these clubs repay us by unnecessarily treating us with contempt?

 

[GTFCfish]

One gripe from yesterday was that yet again us away fans were forced to sit in the corner with vision of the goal obscured by pillars. Whilst the seats behind the goal were left empty. Away fans are the lifeblood of the lower leagues. We spend large amounts of time and money to support our teams and in doing so put money into the coffers of the clubs we visit why is it that some of these clubs repay us by unnecessarily treating us with contempt?

I don’t know why we do that to be honest as sometimes away fans get behind the goal and it seems to change from game to game, I aways prefer away fans to be behind the goal rather than shoved in the corner.

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

I don’t know why we do that to be honest as sometimes away fans get behind the goal and it seems to change from game to game, I aways prefer away fans to be behind the goal rather than shoved in the corner.

I've been all four times since we were relegated to Grimsby and the first two years we got behind the goal. The last two times we've been in the corner. I think it had something to do with Vale kicking off because of the vast open area between home and away fans when away fans are in the more central location?

 

[PaulHaddock]

These days, you’re usually put into the corner if you’re expected to bring less than 300. This reduces costs because we don’t have to open the whole stand. The atmosphere isn’t that important as we know that saving money is the most important part of the matchday for a football club /s

 

[Scamperdale]

I don’t accept you would have to open the whole of the stand. Just use netting to restrict the amount of seating available behind the goal. It’s not just Grimsby, a couple of years ago at Oldham we weren’t even inside the touch line ! MK Dons let home fans have a view of the pitch from the food/drink outlets yet away fans have their view deliberately blocked by netting. Carlisle are also poor. How Gillingham have got away with the uncovered away end for so long I can’t believe. 2 years ago FGR managed to cram 150 Crewe fans into the only uncovered section of the ground in a torrential downpour even though the adjoining covered stand had the grand total of 20 home fans in it. Eventually the police saw sense and let us get under cover. I like to think we treat away fans with respect. Away fans can always sit close to the pitch and on the centreline at Gresty Road. Crawley, Mansfield, Newport, Walsall and Bradford to name but a few also manage to offer away fans a decent and welcoming experience.
Rant over...I feel better for that!

 

[Son of Cod]

I don’t accept you would have to open the whole of the stand. Just use netting to restrict the amount of seating available behind the goal. It’s not just Grimsby, a couple of years ago at Oldham we weren’t even inside the touch line ! MK Dons let home fans have a view of the pitch from the food/drink outlets yet away fans have their view deliberately blocked by netting. Carlisle are also poor. How Gillingham have got away with the uncovered away end for so long I can’t believe. 2 years ago FGR managed to cram 150 Crewe fans into the only uncovered section of the ground in a torrential downpour even though the adjoining covered stand had the grand total of 20 home fans in it. Eventually the police saw sense and let us get under cover. I like to think we treat away fans with respect. Away fans can always sit close to the pitch and on the centreline at Gresty Road. Crawley, Mansfield, Newport, Walsall and Bradford to name but a few also manage to offer away fans a decent and welcoming experience.
Rant over...I feel better for that!

On the centreline at Mansfield? And Bradford? Haven't been for a few seasons, but Mansfield has always been behind the goal for us. Bradford, we always seemed to be high up in the top tier and last block running down the touchline to the left of the big stand that goes round, aka pretty much in the corner as well.

 

[Scamperdale]

Sorry probably didn’t write very clearly. At Crewe away fans are always on the centreline. Both at Bradford and Mansfield we are behind the goal but unlike Grimsby, despite our poor attendance, we are put behind the goal and not pushed unnecessarily in the corner. Anyway enough of my rant. Well done to Grimsby last night. Enjoy Chelsea. Cambridge await Crewe at the weekend

 

[valefan16]

The Crewe away end is probably ok if you have 500 or so but is horrific when it’s full. You end up overflowing onto the stairs, struggle to get out the back and the passages are fairly narrow and getting to the single toilet and out onto the open air concourse at half time is like training to be a marine!

In fairness though the one time I was behind the goal it was much better but that ice cream stand is woeful, assume it’s limited due to the street behind it.

 

[Son of Cod]

The Crewe away end is probably ok if you have 500 or so but is horrific when it’s full. You end up overflowing onto the stairs, struggle to get out the back and the passages are fairly narrow and getting to the single toilet and out onto the open air concourse at half time is like training to be a marine!

That sounds great, to be fair. Much rather be packed in. Easier to smuggle booze back to your seat too.